Amalfi coast, November 2024

We flew into Rome and took a fast train to Naples, where we had to wait for I. as he flew into Naples.

We used this time to go to Herculaneum, which is an ancient Roman town buried by the eruption of Vesuvius. I found it smaller than Pompeii, but still very interesting.

We then did a combination of train and bus rides to end up in Maiori, the starting point of our hike.

The next day we started on the "Sentiero dei Limoni", a beautiful coastal path going past lemon groves, leading to Minori 

We ended up in Amalfi and realised we are running out of time to actually finish the hike before darkness, so ended up exploring options for skipping part of it by other means. 

We ended up taking a taxi Tovere (San Pietro) after which we still had an upwards hike towards San Lazzaro where we stayed for the night.

The next day we hiked "Sentiero degli Dei" from Bomerano to Positano, stopping on the way at the rather cosy "Il Chiosco del sentiero degli dei" for a well-deserved Insalata Caprese.

From Positano, we took a ferry back to Salerno, which was preferable to the bus ride. 

We went back to Rome and some more sightseeing in Rome.

A short hike in Vanoise, the French Alps, July 2024

In July 2024, we did a short hike in the French Alps, the Vanoise National Park, in a diverse company that included my children, and also a group of my friends.

Our original plan of starting at Refuge de l'Orgère, crossing Col de Chavière and continuing to Refuge de Péclet-Polset, had to be adapted as our flight from Frankfurt to Lyon got cancelled, and the replacement flight was from Munich on the next morning.

We spent the afternoon going by train from Frankfurt to Munich, took the flight the next morning and then J. had booked a rental car with which we went to the little hamlet of Les Prioux, near Pralognan-la-Vanoise, and started for Refuge de Péclet-Polset from the other, Northern side around mid-day.

That was a shorter and easier hike up than the one originally planned, from Refuge de l'Orgère to Refuge de Péclet-Polset crossing the - still snowy - Col de Chavière.

We took a short evening walk to the beautiful Lac Blanc as the nearby peaks basked in the last rays of the evening sun.

Our car was now parked in Les Prioux, not reachable by public transport from Val Cenis where we planned to finish our hike.

Fortunately, J. & I. were both ready and able to do a heroic and rather long logistical exercise by hiking from Refuge de Péclet-Polset down to Les Prioux, taking the car to Refuge de l'Orgère, then hiking all the way from Refuge de l'Orgère to Pralognan-la-Vanoise, arriving only in the very evening and rather tired.

The next day we took the cable-car up to Mont Bochor which cut some altitude meters, even if it didn't shorten the distance that much, and hiked to Refuge du Col de la Vanoise, crossing Lac des Vaches along the way.

It was an overcast evening at the refuge, with a bit of rain, which cut our evening hike towards the semi-dried out Lac des Assiettes short. We only saw some chamois in the distance and they never got close.

The next morning started with a mix of clouds and sun, and we proceeded down to Torrent de la Leisse. The path was initially steep, with a few patches of snow, but eventually became a gentle, mostly level path along the stream, hiking up the Vallon de la Leisse, taking us to Refuge de la Leisse.

We reached the refuge, had lunch and a brief nap, and then enjoyed the amazing view towards Vallon de la Leisse.

The next morning we proceeded to hike down Vallon de la Leisse, stopping for snacks at Refuge d'Entre-Deux-Eaux, and proceeding up to the L'auberge de Bellecombe.

The day was hot again, and we saw many marmots out and about.

My family decided to stay at the auberge, while J. and I hiked to the nearby Lac Blanc where we took a refreshing swim and had some crêpes at the nearby refuge.

The next day we hiked down to Val Cenis, took a bus back to Modane where J. retrieved our car from the Refuge de l'Orgere parking.

Overall, this was a beautiful trip where I really enjoyed the amazing scenery and the kind hospitality of the French people. It's also very family friendly as the refuges are not that far away from each other so planning stages of reasonable length was easy.

The last pictures are from Gorges de la Jogne in Broc, Switzerland, which I briefly visited.

Magna Via Francigena - Conclusions

The last day is fully uneventful, I take the transfer from the Birgi Vecchi hotel to the Trapani-Birgi airport and return home.

Approaching Sutera

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this hike. It was a really good fit for what I wanted this trip to be:

• Really friendly, genuinely hospitable local Sicilian people in the small towns.
• Amazing food - I especially enjoyed the pasta and fish dishes.
• The right difficulty level, with the gentle hilly terrain being easy on the knees.
• Great opportunities to practice my limited, but gradually improving, Italian.
• Lovely scenery of hilly, agricultural landscape.
• Good trail condition and marking, except for some rubbish being strewn on the sides of the trail near towns and industrial areas.
• A few other walkers, enough to have somebody to talk to from time to time, not so many as to feel crowded.
• Convenient, reasonably priced accommodation.
• Pretty good weather in early April, though the latter half of the week was a bit too hot.

My packing selection at 5.8 kg total, 3.3 kg non-consumable and 2.3 kg base weight was also working well this time.

Magna Via Francigena - Sutera to Campofranco to Agrigento to Birgi Vecchi

I walk down from Sutera. A pleasant morning turns into a hot day.

Nice espresso and ice cream at Campofranco town, but the train station is five more kilometers away.

On the way from Campofranco to Campofranco station I finally leave Magna Via Francigena and run into a muddy stream that I have to ford.

I try a misguided, unsuccessful detour to look for another crossing, but it is through a rough, uncut field and I don't make much progress. If I wasn't in a rush, I could find a better detour.

I even sprain my ankle a slight bit, but it seems fine later.

I don't have time, the train is leaving at 10:16 and I have to make it, as the next one is only in the late afternoon!

So I change into water socks and ford the stream. The water socks are too short, so I end up having water in both the water socks and shoes afterwards. It is hot though, so it's only a minor annoyance.

I walk through a dirty industrial area and reach Campofranco station which is completely lifeless.

I solve the puzzle about which platform to take (the one with the shiniest rails!).

The train comes and takes me to Agrigento.

9 km walked so far to get from Sutera to the station.

Campofranco station

I arrive at Agrigento and it is now hot, 27C.

It seems the buses to the temples won't come any time soon, so I walk there, downhill.

The temple area is large, and it seems nearly everyone arrives by car.

I walk and walk looking for the right entrance. Finally I find it.

It is so hot and there are lots of people and I have walked so much that the temples don't seem that interesting to me any more.

In retrospect, I should have visited the archeological museum instead. Another time.

I buy a traditional graniti (frozen lemon juice slushy) and it is really nice.

Temple of Concordia

I leave the temple are at an entrance that had a bus stop and find that the next one just goes to another - main - entrance and will arrive in 50 mins...

OK, well, I walked down there, may as well walk back up.

I have to get back to the bus stop by 15:00... The taxi driver at Agrigento station quoted me 200 EUR for a ride to Trapani-Birgi and the 12 EUR for the bus seems a much better deal.

Walking uphill takes time and by the time I am in town, I don't have time for a proper meal. I have an espresso in the station bar instead.

11 km walked in Agrigento. I did not enjoy it much, even though the temples are objectively impressive. Too many cars and people, too hot, too crowded, too dirty.

Valley of the Temples, Agrigento

The bus takes me to Trapani-Birgi airport. My plan to ask to stop closer to my hotel fails, he approached from the East and Trapani-Birgi is the closest point. He would not have stopped anyway at a non-designated stop.

There are no taxis at the bus stop, they are instead at arrivals, and I don't feel like dealing with them, I have often had bad experiences with taxi drivers who try to overcharge me.

I have time, I have legs and I feel like walking to the hotel.

It turns out to be less fun than I had hoped, as there are more cars than I expected and it is annoying.

I reach the seaside and there is no nice seaside path, just a narrow road with way too many cars.

I am not quite sure why there are so many. It is Sunday evening though... Have they all been kiting and are returning to the larger towns?

Also, I am not sure why I thought it will be 3 km, it turns out to be 6 km.

Birgi Vecchi beach

But I check in, arrange a transfer for tomorrow morning for 20 EUR (I don't want to walk back to the airport), and have an amazing "pasta con pesto alla trapanese" at the hotel restaurant "Santa Maria".

Strangely, despite 26 km, my feet feel reasonably OK, and I don't even feel that tired.